The Board remands the claims for service connection for GERD with esophagitis and hemorrhoids to obtain additional medical opinions regarding secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: The March 2025 VA examiner's opinion is inadequate because it did not address both the 'caused by' and 'aggravation' avenues of secondary service connection associated with the Veteran's conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- GERD with esophagitis, Hemorrhoids
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2025
- Citation
- A25106517
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 766 · Granted: 40% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25106517.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for an increased evaluation of his hemorrhoids, so the case is dismissed.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for her service-connected hemorrhoids was denied as the evidence did not show large or thrombotic, irreducible hemorrhoids with excessive redundant tissue, evidencing frequent recurrence.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted higher levels of SMC and aid and attendance special monthly compensation effective May 3, 2024, due to his service-connected conditions that require regular aid and assistance.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for hemorrhoids and a separate rating of 10 percent for pruritus ani is partially granted. The Veteran does not meet the criteria for a higher rating under any applicable code, including revised Diagnostic Code 7336.
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